Paul Hanson
Hi, I’m Paul Hanson, and I’m an assistant professor in the School of Natural Resources. I’m associated with the soil science graduate specialization and the Earth resources program area.
My main interests are in the responses of river, hillslope, and eolian (wind-deposited) systems to climate change. My research goals include studying both the evolution of the Platte River system over the past 100,000 years, and the causes for stream incision on the western Great Plains and the central Rocky Mountains.
Other aspects of my research will focus on identifying the climatic conditions responsible for changes in both flood magnitudes and hillslope erosion rates in Nebraska. For much of this work, I will use optical dating techniques to construct chronologies of river and hillslope sediments.
Working with others at UNL, I’ve studied changes in the potential movement of sand dunes and deposition rates of wind-blown silt, called loess, in Nebraska. I’ve also worked in locating and inventorying construction aggregate resources in the north woods of Wisconsin for the U.S. Forest Service.
These kinds of studies matter because to understand the climate of the future and its effect on humans, we need to understand the climate of the past. Although our knowledge of climate change has greatly improved over the past 20 years, our understanding of landscape responses to changes in climatic conditions has lagged behind.
Through my research I hope to improve our knowledge about the influences of climate on the landscapes on which we live. This includes better understanding the nature of drought and its impact on dunefield activation and loess deposition rates on the Great Plains. Identifying the potential effects of drought will aide us in better understanding future droughts. Similarly, by studying changes in flood magnitudes and hillslope erosion rates, we will better understand potential changes in the local and regional environment.
Research for my master’s degree involved studying episodic changes in hillslope erosion rates in eastern Wyoming. My doctoral dissertation work included: identifying changes in flood magnitudes on ephemeral stream systems in western Nebraska over the last 5,000 years; changes in incision rates on streams draining Wyoming’s Laramie Range over the last 60,000 years; and changes in alluvial fan activity over the last 40,000 years in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and California.
I received my bachelor’s in 1994 from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in anthropology with an emphasis in archaeology. I earned my master’s in 2003 and my Ph. D. in 2005 from the Department of Geosciences of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Personnel Information
| Name | Paul Hanson |
| University Title | Assistant Professor |
| Additional Title | Cenozoic Stratigrapher |
| Address | 612 Hardin Hall, Lincoln NE 68583-0996 |
| Phone | 402-472-7762 |
| Fax | 402-472-2946 |
| phanson2@unl.edu | |
| Related Websites | http://www.geosciences.unl.edu/OSL/index.htm |
Go to Paul's Full Profile
Key Publications
- Hanson, P.R., Mason, J.A. and Goble, R.J., in press, The formation of fluvial terraces along Wyoming's Laramie Range as a response to late Pleistocene flooding events. Geomorphology.
- Miao, X., Mason, J.A., Goble, R.J. and Hanson, P.R. 2005. Loess-inferred dry climate and eolian activity in the early to mid-Holocene, central Great Plains, North America. The Holocene 15, 339-346.
- Hanson, P.R., Mason, J.A. and Goble, R.J. 2004. Episodic late Quaternary slope wash deposition as recorded in colluvial aprons, southeastern Wyoming. Quaternary Science Reviews 23, 1835-1846.
- Mason, J.A., Jacobs, P.M., Hanson, P.R., Miao, X. and Goble, R.J. 2003. Sources and paleoclimatic significance of Holocene Bignell Loess, central Great Plains, U.S.A. Quaternary Research 60, 330-339.
